Intra-State Violence In D.R. Congo And Features Of The ‘New War’ Scenarios

The chief objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the characteristics of new wars (described by scholars Mary Kaldor and Herfried Műnkler) are identified in the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hence, the main argument is that the wars in D.R. Congo displayed most features of the new wars. Former Zaire/RDC was a weak state, completely unable to retain monopoly on the use of organized violence or to control its entire territory. Many armed groups and local militias had free vein in the east part and at some point they also controlled the north east and south east areas. Moreover, they gained autonomy and resorted to atrocities. The distinction between combatants and civilians was blurred. The locus of belligerence moved from the military sector to the societal one, thus also pinpointing to the need to reconceptualize security. Most attacks were carried out systematically and deliberately against groups of individuals, without discrimination between civilians and members of the militias. Child-soldiering was present and violence against women was prevailing systematically. Looting, raping, and killing was the bulk of the fighting and on several occasions civilians were used as human shields.